The Prehistoric World; Or, Vanished RacesAllen, Emory Adams
History
The Prehistoric World; Or, Vanished Races
Allen, Emory Adams
Archaeology; Indians; Prehistoric peoples
It may not come amiss to briefly notice the main points thus far
made in our investigation of the past. As to the epoch of man’s
first appearance, we found he could not be expected to appear
until all the animals lower than he had made their appearance.
This is so because the Creator of all has apparently chosen that
method of procedure in the development of life on the globe.
According to our present knowledge, man might have been living in
the Miocene Age, and with a higher degree of probability in the
Pliocene. But we can not say that the evidence adduced in favor
of his existence at these early times is satisfactory to the
majority of our best thinkers. All agree that he was living in
Europe at the close of the Glacial Age, and we think the evidence
sufficient to show that he preceded the glaciers, and that as a
rude savage he lived in Europe throughout the long extended
portion of time known as the Glacial Age.
We also found evidence of either two distinct races of men
inhabiting Europe in the Paleolithic Age, or else tribes of the
same race, widely different in time and in culture. The one
people known as the men of the River Drift apparently invaded
Europe from Asia, along with the species of temperate animals now
living there. This people seem to have been widely scattered over
the earth. The race has probably vanished away, though certain
Australian tribes may be descendants of them. They were doubtless
very low in the scale of humanity, having apparently never
reached a higher state than that of Lower Savagism. The second
race of men inhabiting Europe during the Paleolithic Age were the
Cave-dwellers. They seem to have been allied to the Eskimos of
the North. They were evidently further advanced than the Drift
men, but were still savages.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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